State Facts About Unintended Pregnancy: Montana

National Background and Context

Unintended pregnancy can have significant, negative consequences for individual women, their
families and society as a whole. An extensive body of research links births resulting from
unintended or closely spaced pregnancies to adverse maternal and child health outcomes and myriad
social and economic challenges.(1,2) In 2008,
the last year for which national-level data are available, 51% of all pregnancies in the United
States were unintended including eight in 10 teen pregnancies; the U.S. unintended pregnancy rate
was 54 per 1,000 women aged 15–44, a level significantly higher than that in many other developed
countries.(3,4) If current trends continue,
more than half of all women in the United States will experience an unintended pregnancy by the time
they reach age 45. And economically disadvantaged women are disproportionately affected by
unintended pregnancy and its consequences: In 2008, the unintended pregnancy rate among women with
incomes lower than the federal poverty level, at 137 per 1,000, was more than five times as high as
the rate among women with incomes greater than 200% of poverty (26 per 1,000)

In any given year, the two-thirds of women in the United States at risk of unintended pregnancy
who use contraceptives consistently throughout the year account for only 5% of all unintended
pregnancies; fully 95% of unintended pregnancies are attributable to the one-third of women who do
not use contraceptives or who use them inconsistently.(5) Public
programs—notably Medicaid and the Title X national family planning program—are central to women's
access to affordable contraceptive services and supplies and their ability to use contraceptives
effectively. In 2010, 8.9 million women received publicly funded family planning services; these
services helped women avoid 2.2 million unintended pregnancies, which would likely have resulted in
approximately 1.1 million unplanned births and 760,000 abortions (the remainder would have resulted in miscarriages).(7)
Absent publicly funded family planning services, the numbers of unintended pregnancies, unplanned births and abortions
in the United States would be two-thirds higher than they currently are. (2012 data on events averted are available only for services provided at publicly funded family planning centers; these data are not available for Medicaid enrollees served by private providers). (7)

Unintended pregnancies are also costly to the federal and state governments, resulting in $21.0 billion in public expenditures in 2010.(8) Yet, these costs could have been considerably higher: By helping women avoid unintended pregnancies, publicly funded family planning services saved taxpayers $13.6 billion in 2010, or $7.09 for every $1 spent.(9)

Incidence and Outcomes of Unintended Pregnancy in Montana

• In 2010, 45% of all pregnancies (7,000) in Montana were unintended.(10)

• Montana’s unintended pregnancy rate in 2010 was 42 per 1,000 women aged 15–44.
Nationally, rates among the states ranged from a low of 32 per 1,000 in New Hampshire to a high of
62 per 1,000 in Delaware.(10)

• The teen pregnancy rate in Montana was 53 per 1,000 women aged 15–19 in 2010. The
national teen pregnancy rate was 57 per 1,000, ranging from 28 per 1,000 in New Hampshire to 80 per
1,000 in New Mexico.(11)

• In 2010, 59% of unintended pregnancies in Montana resulted in births and 25% in
abortions; the remainder resulted in miscarriages.(10)

Public Cost of Unintended Pregnancy in Montana

• In 2010, 2,100 or 47.8% of unplanned births in Montana were publicly funded, compared with 68% nationally.(8)

• In Montana in 2010, the federal and state governments spent $40.8 million on unintended pregnancies; of this, $31.7 million was paid by the federal government and $9.1 million was paid by the state.(8)

• The total public costs for unintended pregnancies in 2010 was $227 per
woman aged 15–44 in Montana, compared with $201 per woman nationally.(8)

• In 2010, the reported public expenditures for family planning client services in Montana
totaled $4.5 million; this includes $1.5 million through Medicaid and $2.4 million through Title X.
Most states also use some of their own money (in addition to funds required to match
federal grants) for family planning services; in 2010, Montana contributed $491,000. (12)

• The publicly funded family planning services provided by safety-net health centers in Montana helped avert 7,700 unintended pregnancies in 2012, which would likely have resulted in 3,800 unplanned births and 2,600 abortions.(6)

• By averting unintended pregnancies and other negative reproductive health outcomes, publicly funded family planning services provided by safety-net health centers in Montana helped save the federal and state governments $42.2 million in 2010.(9)

8. Sonfield A and Kost K, Public Costs from Unintended Pregnancies and the Role of Public Insurance Programs in Paying for Pregnancy-Related Care: National and State Estimates for 2010, New York: Guttmacher Institute, 2015, <http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/public-costs-of-UP-2010.pdf>, accessed February 23, 2015.